Plenty of success stories as New York high school football playoffs heat up

Video: Ryan Duffy's highlights vs. Bronxville
See the Westlake star in action.

By then end of this week, we will know the field of finalists for the New York State Public High School Athletic Association football title games that will be played Thanksgiving weekend at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse.

Semifinal-round games are scheduled for this coming weekend throughout the state. Title games in classes A, C and D will be Friday, Nov. 27. Class AA and B finals will be played on Sunday, Nov. 29.

Section 8 and Section 11 teams are playing county championship games this coming weekend, which will be followed by the Long Island Championships. Click here to see New York high school football playoff brackets.



Hudson Valley coach finds success in new venue

Coaching debuts don't get much better than the one John Castellano is enjoying at Section 1's Westlake (Thornwood).

Castellano has led the Wildcats to an appearance in the Class B state semifinals. Westlake meets Schuylerville of Section 2 at 3 p.m. Saturday at Dietz Stadium in Kingston. Westlake advanced to the state tournament by winning its first sectional title since 1983, beating Nanuet 6-0 in the title game.

The Wildcats advanced to the state Final Four by defeating Marlboro 14-5 in a state quarterfinal-round game played at Sleepy Hollow High School, as Ryan Duffy returned the opening kickoff of the second half 93 yards for a touchdown.

Castellano, in his 28th season as a varsity coach, guided Nyack to 15 league titles and five regional championships, including state titles in 2000 and 2003. He was head coach at Poughkeepsie High School before moving on to Westlake.

Suffolk rivals meet in rematch for title

John Glenn (Elwood) rolled to a 5-0 start in Suffolk County Division IV before being dealt its first loss, losing to Shoreham-Wading River, 21-6. The teams meet again Thursday at 7 p.m. at Stony Brook University for the Section 11 title.

Now 9-1, Glenn is coming off a 14-0 win over Mount Sinai in the semifinals. Wayne White, an athletic dual-threat quarterback, saw the first game against Shoreham as an opportunity to improve as a team.

"We watched a lot of film after that game, caught some mistakes and got better and improved," White said.

White directs an offense that is equally potent through the air and on the ground. Running back Chris Forsberg gained 103 yards on 19 carries against Mount Sinai and White rushed for 185 yards on 24 carries with offensive linemen Dareus Smith and Edwin Rubio opening up holes.

Shoreham (10-0) defeated Bayport-Blue Point 21-6 in the semifinals behind the passing and throwing of another double-threat signal-caller, Kevin Cutinella.

"Shoreham is a great team," White said. "We both played hard (in the teams' first meeting) and they came out with the victory."



Liberty quarterback spreads the wealth

Senior quarterback Grant Harman threw touchdowns passes to three different receivers in Liberty's Section 9 33-21 win over Dobbs Ferry in the Class C state quarterfinals. Harman completed 12 of 22 passes for 175 yards for Liberty.

Liberty next plays Section 2's Greenwich in the state Class C semifinals at 1 p.m. Saturday at Dietz Stadium in Kingston. Greenwich downed Section 10 champ Gouverneur in the quarterfinals, as senior Mike Brandow gained 228 yards on 24 carries with four TDs, giving him 27 touchdowns for the season.

First time in a long time for Liverpool

Section 3's Liverpool will be making its first state semifinal appearance since 1998. The Warriors beat Elmira 27-22 in the quarterfinals, as Jaydaykis Scott scored the game-winning touchdown with just under one minute remaining. It was the third TD of the game for Scott, who rushed for 151 yards on 25 carries.

Multimedia news and sports editor and producer Joe Lombardi is director of media initiatives and managing editor of the DailyVoice.com, as well as the primary author of the most recent edition of "Lacrosse for Dummies." Follow Joe on Twitter @Joe_Lombardi.